


Little Key, Heavy Door

by rosesbuckley



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Christmas fic, First Kiss, Homeless Theo Raeken, Hot Chocolate, Liam Dunbar is a Softie, M/M, Protect Theo Raeken at all costs thank you, Theo Raeken Deserves Nice Things, Theo Raeken is a Softie, and he gets them, and its adorable, but liam fixes it, its so cute okay, keys, liam is basically an over excited puppy in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:22:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28326765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosesbuckley/pseuds/rosesbuckley
Summary: liam finds theo sleeping in his truck just a few days before christmas and decides to do something about it.
Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken
Comments: 4
Kudos: 107





	Little Key, Heavy Door

Theo shivered once again as he settled in the backseat of his truck. He pulled the green blanket over him yet again as he tried to get comfortable in the familiar sleeping position of him on his side, his head resting on his pillow that was up against the door and his legs were a bit bent in order to fit on the seat. He yanked his blanket up again, it was really too small for him to be completely covered. He finally gave up trying to fit all the way under and sighed in frustration. This was his life, 24/7. It usually took him around an hour or even longer to fall asleep but even then, he was woken up by the  recurring nightmares of his sister. 

This night it only took him an hour to get to sleep and he woke up only twice from the nightmares, which was progress. Theo’s gotten used to all of this already, apart from the defective blanket that won’t cover him all the way, defeating its purpose. 

_ ~~~~~~ _

Liam walked out of the store with a few bags on his arms. They contained presents for his mom, dad, some cards and small gifts to send to the pack away at college, Mason, Cory, Nolan and he even got Theo a little something. It was definitely harder buying for Theo since Liam knew that this was going to be the first  Christmas he’s had in quite some time and he wanted it to be a good one. 

He put all the bags into the backseat of his car and got into the driver's side and pulled out of the parking lot. 

As he drove past the school, he noticed a familiar black truck in the parking lot. He was confused as he turned in. It was almost 10 pm so he didn’t know why in the world Theo would be here. He pulled up beside the truck and got out. He could hear Theo’s  heartbeat, it was steady and calm, almost like he was...

Liam peeked into the back window and there was Theo, curled up in the back with a blanket that Liam immediately noticed was too small for him to be trying to keep warm with. It didn’t take long for Liam to piece everything together, because, what other reason would Theo currently be in the parking lot of the school, sleeping in his backseat. He lived here, in his truck. Liam didn’t really want to think about how long this has been going on because he already felt his heart become heavy and the urge to break open the truck door and take Theo back to his house was creeping up. 

But then Liam got an idea. He quietly got back into his car and went back to the store to get two main things and a few other things as well. He had a plan and hopefully it would work. 

When he got back to the school, he knew that if he knocked on the window and Theo realized he was there and what was happening that he would most likely feel incredibly embarrassed and he didn’t want Theo feeling like that. 

Liam was honestly prepared to almost break into Theo’s truck (as quietly as he could) but then he realized that the doors were already unlocked. Theo either forgot to lock them when he went to sleep or he just...didn’t care that they were unlocked. 

He quietly opened the back door and he didn’t do anything yet other than stare at Theo for a few minutes. He really did want to wake him up and try and coax him into coming back to his house but Liam figured that Theo didn’t want him or any of the pack to find out about this since he’s never said anything about it before. And, how would you even begin a conversation like this with someone? 

Liam grabbed the bag from his passenger seat and took out the large blanket. He stepped onto the part of the truck that acted like a step to help you in. He unfolded the blanket and gently laid it across Theo. Theo seemed to be a pretty heavy sleeper because he still didn’t wake up when Liam made sure the blanket was covering him all the way. He took once last look at Theo and thought about how peaceful and calm he looked while he slept before stepping down and closing the door. He opened the driver's side and hit the button to lock all the doors. 

_ ~~~~~~ _

After Liam got home last night from Christmas shopping and seeing Theo sleeping in his truck, he had a discussion with his parents that didn’t last 10 minutes because Jenna, Liam’s mom, was already repeating “Yes, of course, It would be more than okay.” multiple times. 

But now it was Christmas eve and Liam was getting a few things prepared. He finally got everything ready just in time for Theo to show up at 6 pm because he was coming over for Christmas eve dinner that had already been planned for a week. 

When Theo arrived, he knocked on the door. He had been over to Liams house enough that Liam told him he didn’t have to knock but he still chose to. Liam rushed to the door and greeted Theo a little too excitedly. 

“What’s gotten you so perky?” Theo asked as he stepped into the warm house. 

“It’s Christmas eve! And tomorrows Christmas! Aren’t you excited?” 

Theo took his head. “Not really, I don’t do Christmas. It isn’t really my thing.” He hung his coat on the coat rack in the little hallway. 

Liam wasted no time in taking Theo by the arm and pulling him into the living room. “Well, time to change that. You can help me decorate our Christmas tree while dinner is still getting ready.” 

“I- sure...I guess.” Theo said. He didn’t really seem to mind it as much as he was trying to make it seem as Liam took out the ornament boxes and opened them and told Theo to start hanging them on the tree. 

“Don’t people usually have these things up in like  November or something?”

Liam laughed. “Yeah sometimes. We usually put ours up the second week of December but as you can tell, we got a pretty late start to this year. I only just bought presents for people just a few days ago.” (When in reality Liam had actually taken all the ornaments off the tree before Theo arrived and made sure to keep his heartbeat steady when he lied but Theo didn’t need to know that.)

Theo continued putting ornaments on the tree and Liam made a mental note every time he saw Theo smile at one of the picture ornaments, most of them were of Liam when he was little or as a baby. 

They continued decorating the tree and Theo seemed to be enjoying himself. Every now and then he would ask Liam about a specific ornament and Liam would go into the story behind it. 

Right as they finished the tree, Jenna came in and told them that dinner was ready after she gave Theo a hug. 

Dinner was, well, dinner. Everyone enjoyed themselves. David, Liam’s step dad, and Jenna were having fun telling Theo embarrassing stories of Liam during the holiday seasons while Liam was trying his best to cover up his embarrassment. 

Afterwards, before Theo could say anything about leaving, Liam was asking him to help him wrap presents. 

“I have zero skill level for this, Liam.” Theo said.

“Come on, it’s okay. I can teach you.” 

“Why do you even want me to help you anyways? Wouldn’t you rather have your mom,  ya know, someone who knows how to do this stuff, help you?”

“She’s already wrapped all her presents and I have to wrap mine and I want you to help me, if you want to. Please?” 

It didn’t take too much for Theo to agree and Liam was practically bouncing off the walls. His plan was working! Only one more thing after wrapping presents and hopefully it will be a success. 

Liam got everything out and he got all the bags that had unwrapped presents in them from his room. He sat them in the floor and told Theo to take everything out of the bags while he got the wrapping paper out. Thankfully Liam looked over just in time before Theo opened a certain bag. 

“Wait! Don’t open that bag!” Theo put his hands up dramatically. “Those are your presents, you can’t see it yet.” 

Theo gave him a pointed look. “Liam, you did not have to get me anything. I didn’t get you anything cause again, I don’t know how to do this whole Christmas thing.”

Liam smiled “I don’t care if you got me anything or not. I got  _ you  _ something, so deal with it.” The corner Theo’s lips turned upward. 

Liam grabbed a thing of wrapping paper and demonstrated with Masons present on how to fold the paper and everything. It took a few tries but Theo did get the hang of it eventually and managed to wrap Cory, Nolan, and Davids presents from Liam. When Jenna came in with her presents, Theo helped her arrange them under the tree and Liam went to wrap the presents he got for Theo. 

He came back with 3 presents and placed them under the tree, Theo still telling him that he didn’t have to get him anything. 

“Will you shut it? I got you presents for Christmas, don’t make me break them by throwing them at you.” 

Theo stuck his tongue out at Liam like a child and Liam hit him on the arm. “Come on, we’re about to watch some Christmas movies.”

“As much as I’d like to, I really should be going.” It was almost 8 pm. It really wasn’t that late. Liam guessed that Theo might be wanting to leave early to find a stop to park or the night if he couldn’t at the school again for some reason. 

“Come on, Please? Please stay and watch a movie with us.” Liam followed Theo to the hallway where he reached for his coat. 

“Why do you want me to stay so bad?” Theo asked. 

Shit. Liam hadn’t thought of an excuse for this. Um...oh!

“Because its Christmas eve and usually Mason would be staying the night but Cory’s staying with him. It feels weird not having a friend stay the night so hello, you’re my friend, I have no one else to stay over so pretty please, will you stay the night?” Which really wasn’t a lie. Mason has been staying at Liam’s house every Christmas eve since they were little kids. 

Theo stared at him for a moment before sighing and hanging his coat right back up. It wasn’t an annoyed sigh or a “why am I this idiot's friend?” sigh. Well, no, it was partially that but, it was mainly a content, oh, I have an actual place to stay tonight, happy sigh. 

“Fine, I’ll  st -”

“Yay! Come on!” 

Liam started dragging Theo upstairs to his room. “Are your parents okay with this?” 

“Of course, or I wouldn’t have asked.”

Since Theo didn’t have any pajamas for the night, Liam gave him some of his. It was a gray t-shirt and a pair of red and black checkered pants. Liam changed into his pajamas as well when Theo went into his bathroom to change. 

They got back downstairs and Liam said he was going to the kitchen to help his dad get the hot chocolate ready. Liam and his dad always fixed hot chocolate for everyone and brought it to them. Liam told Theo to go back into the living room and he would be there in a minute. But Liam, being the person (*cough* dumbass *cough*) that he is, seemed to be a little too happy and didn’t think when he leaned up and quickly pecked Theo on the lips before rushing happily into the kitchen. 

But then Theo lost his thinking ability and stood at the bottom of the stairs, completely stunned at what just happened. He felt his face heat up and quickly tried to gather himself and go to the living room, sitting on the couch and saying hi to Jenna when she walked in. 

It wasn’t long before Liam and his dad walked in, so Theo didn’t have too much time to fully process everything that happened not even 15 minutes ago. 

“Okay, what are we watching first?” David asked, handing Jenna her hot chocolate and sitting down beside her on the couch, holding his own hot chocolate. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas or Home Alone?”

“Grinch!” Liam and his mom said at the same time. “Have you watched the Grinch before?” He asked Theo. 

“D-Didn’t have a childhood, remember?” Theo internally cursed himself for stuttering. Liam didn’t seem to be as flustered as he was. Maybe he  just hadn’t realized what he had done yet. 

“Well, then this is making up for it.” Liam smiled and handed Theo his mug of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows floating in it and cinnamon sprinkled on top. Theo tried to hide the big smile that spread across his face by looking down at the mug in his hands. Liam sat down beside him with his hot chocolate as well and David got the movie playing on the tv.

They were sitting pretty close to each other on the couch because they had a blanket spread across them that Liam had grabbed. They had their mugs of hot chocolate as they turned their attention to the tv. Theo still couldn’t stop thinking about how Liam kissed him out of the blue. 

They had gotten through the first movie and had finished their drinks. Now they were watching the first Home Alone. 2/3 of the way through, Liam felt something hit his shoulder. He looked down to see that Theo was sound asleep and his head had fallen directly onto his shoulder. Liam smiled widely and gently rested his head against Theo’s. 

He knew he had kissed Theo early that night. He just didn’t realize until he walked into the kitchen and panicked a bit but made sure to keep his heartbeat steady and be as calm as he could when he came back into the living room. 

He looked back to the tv and he noticed his mom holding up her phone. Liam looked over and smiled as she took a picture of the two of them. That’ll probably be going on the Christmas tree next year. 

Soon enough, Liam was falling asleep as well and he told himself to get up so he (and possibly Theo if he was comfortable with it) could get up and go get in his bed so they would be a lot more comfortable but he ended up falling dead asleep. 

The next morning, Liam woke up first and realized Theo had curled into him during the night. His face was pressed into Liam’s shoulder and he had his knees pulled up close to him and they were a bit over Liam’s. Liam didn’t even want to move because of how cozy Theo seemed to be but he had to in order to finish something. He got up as carefully as he could and went to his room. When he was coming out, his parents were coming out of their room as well. 

While Jenna and David went into the kitchen to get the coffee going, Liam went back to the living room and put the stocking that had the letter  T on it beside his. 

Liam went to wake Theo up and told him that it was Christmas and time to open presents. Jenna and David came in a few minutes later and Liam grabbed all their stockings from under the tree. Theo definitely wasn't expecting a stocking of his own so Liam had to gently tap him on the head with it so he would look. Theo was a bit confused as to why he was now holding a stocking that was filled with random little gifts such as a pair of earbuds, fluffy socks and lots of candy. But he was happy. It reminded him of when he was really little and he would open stockings and presents with his parents and sister on Christmas morning. 

Presents were soon being distributed and Liam was becoming overjoyed while watching Theo open his and how he would get a huge smile on his face. Once everything was opened, there was one other little thing that Liam had to give Theo. 

Liam went and grabbed it and hid it behind his back. “Ok, this is a big present,  it's not wrapped or anything but hold out your hand.”

“My hand? Thought you said it was big.”

“It is, trust me.” 

Theo held out his hand and watched Liam place a key into the palm of his hand. Theo was now really confused but Liam elaborated. “That’s your Christmas present. A home. It's a key to our house and we already have a spare bedroom set up so it's yours if you want it. I know you’ve been sleeping in your truck, I don’t know how long  it's been going on but now it can stop. You can have an actual home now, Theo.”

Theo seemed completely speechless. His eyes were watery and he opened his mouth a couple times to try and deny the generous offer but he just couldn’t. Instead, he reached out and hugged Liam as tight as he could and he didn’t let go. Liam hugged back just as tight, especially when he felt Theo’s shoulders shake a little. Liam barely caught the “Thank you so much.” from Theo before he was pulling away and went to give a hug to Jenna and David and thank them as well. 

Theo had a home. 

_ ~~~~~~ _

The little house key had unlocked a pretty heavy door in Theo. He how had a home, a proper bed, a blanket that was now bigger than him that definitely kept him warm. He now had what he needed and what he deserved. Theo never knew how to tell someone he was homeless and quite frankly didn’t want to. But he didn’t have to, Liam found out on his own and offered a room in his own house to him. 

Liam  hadn't told Theo about the blanket yet but if Theo were to ask him, which he hasn’t and its already 8 pm, how he found out he was sleeping in his truck then Liam would tell him. 

They had stayed at the house all day in their pajamas. Mason and Cory were supposed to come over and receive their gifts but it had started snowing and the roads were becoming icy so they decided to try and come the next day. 

Right now, Liam and Theo were in Theo’s new bedroom. They were sitting on the bed and while Liam was reading a new  book he got about something in history, Theo was laid back and had his eyes closed. He wasn’t asleep, just really content with where he was. 

After a while Theo spoke up. “Thanks again. I know I’ve said that way too many times today but I really can’t thank you enough for all this.” 

Liam smiled and reached out to pat Theo’s knee. “You’re welcome. You deserve it.” Theo smiled as well and Liam went back to reading his book. 

They hadn’t talked about the whole accidental kissing incident yet but...“And Liam?” 

“Hm?” 

Liam looked up and when he did, Theo took the opportunity to sit up right and lean over to peck his lips. “Thanks for the blanket.” 

Smiles grew on both their faces and Liam reached out and wrapped his arms around Theo’s neck, hugging him. Hugging made them fall back onto the bed, giggling. Both of their faces were blushing meses but they didn’t care, they just looked at each other again and smiled. 

Yeah, Theo definitely had a home now. 


End file.
